Samsung Galaxy S4 Active water and dust resistant phone announced

Samsung has announced its much awaited smartphone, Galaxy S4 Active, the ruggedised version of the company's flagship smartphone, the Galaxy S4, targeting active users.

The phone is dust and water resistant with IP67 certification and can survive being dipped in 1 meter water for up to 30 minutes. It comes with a water-resistant earphone jack, so one can use earphones even during wet conditions. The phone can also take pictures under water and features an 'Aqua Mode' for the same.

The Galaxy S4 Active is powered by a 1.9 GHz Quad-core processor and has 2GB of RAM. It features a 5-inch full HD (1920x1080 pixels resolution) TFT LCD screen that has a pixel density of 443 PPI. It runs Android 4.2.2, the latest iteration of the operating system.

The phone sports an 8-megapixel rear camera with LED flash and a 2-megapixel front facing camera. The volume key located on the side of the device can be used as a camera key, allowing users to easily and quickly open the camera application to capture photo and video the moment it happens. Additionally, the camera transforms into a powerful LED flash light to assist in low-light and nighttime activities with a long press of the volume key.

The phone offer 16GB internal storage out of which 11.25GB is accessible and also offers a microSD card slot that allows users to expand storage up to 64GB. The phone comes with a 2600mAh battery.

Samsung Galaxy S4 Active also borrows 'smart features' from the Samsung Galaxy S4 including 'Samsung Smart Pause' that enables users to control of the screen using optical cues, 'Air View' that lets users preview the content of an email or a gallery folder by simply hovering their fingers over the screen, 'Air Gesture' through which users can change music tracks, scroll up and down on a web page, or accept a call with a simple wave of the hand, and 'S Health' that helps keep track of personal health statistics. The phone also features Group Play to share music, photos, documents and games together and across various devices including Galaxy S4, Galaxy S4 mini, Galaxy Mega 6.3 and Galaxy Mega 5.8. It also features several camera tricks that Samsung first introduced with the Galaxy S4.

The phone will be showcased at Samsung's Premiere event in London on June 20. The Galaxy S4 Active will be available for purchase starting summer, with initial availability in the U.S and Sweden. It will be offered in three different color options, namely Urban Grey, Dive Blue and Orange Flare.